Most persons habitually carry on their person a wallet of conventional design, containing paper money and various articles such as personal identification, credit cards, or the like. Conventional wallets usually are carried by men in their hip pocket or inside pocket of a jacket, and by women in a handbag or other separate conveyance which in turn is supported by a hand or shoulder strap. For both men and women, the risk of losing the wallet and its contents to pickpockets or other thieves needs no explanation, and the shock of discovering a missing wallet is compounded by the embarrassment and inconvenience of suddenly losing one's money, credit cards, and the like.
These problems are bad enough for anyone, but they may be particularly troublesome for active persons such as hikers, campers, cyclists, and the like who may be traveling light, or who simply may not want to burden themselves with carrying bulky pocket wallets or conspicuous, burdensome handbags. Moreover, the traveler in a foreign country probably will be carrying essential items such as a passport or personal medication, which may be difficult or impossible to replace on short notice, in addition to customary items such as paper money, coins, or credit cards. The conventional wallet is not well-suited for this purpose, as it cannot comfortably or readily contain outsized or nonfoldable articles such as passports, maps, pens, lipsticks, penlights, or other articles a traveler might desire to keep readily at hand.